There is one more important concern rarely mentioned in the debate about this complicated and mind-numbingly arcane bill. The legislation is only the general outline, the skeleton if you will—of what the remade American health care system would ultimately look like if the bill becomes law. The flesh and blood would be created beneath the public radar by unelected bureaucrats in the federal departments and agencies through the promulgation of thousands of additional pages of rules and regulations. Thus, whatever bill is ultimately passed, it will still be a pig in a poke. The devil, as they say, will be in the regulatory details.

That is why it is foolish to pass a 1000+-page bill that is long on indecipherability as well as dead trees. We don’t want decisions that will legally impact so centrally on life, death, health, and welfare, left to unelected bureaucratic regulators.

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About Me

Originally a traditional internist, I became a hospitalist in the early days of the “movement.” I'll be writing about clinical topics, mainly in hospital medicine. Occasionally politics and other stuff creep in. This content does not constitute medical advice (consult your physician) nor is it authoritative (check primary sources).